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In this paper, a graph theory-based maturity model to comprehensively assess the Industry 4.0 maturity level by means of a multidimensional Industry 4.0 maturity score (MIMS) is proposed.

The proposed maturity assessment model is based on (1) the identification of the maturity dimensions and assessment parameters from existing literature and expert opinion and (2) the development of the assessment model based on graph theory and matrix-based approach. The illustrative application of the developed model in two case enterprises is also included.

The model is configured to include six dimensions having 30 constituent attributes. Unlike the case with many of the previously published models, the proposed model does not evaluate the progress in specific Industry 4.0 enabling technologies, rather the assessment parameters are associated with the functional areas.

While the configuration of the proposed model enables a comprehensive maturity assessment, it facilitates the identification of contextual dimensional attributes and assists the enterprises in developing the roadmap for Industry 4.0 implementation aligning to the diverse organizational strategies.

Distinctively, the proposed model apprehends the interdependency between the maturity assessment dimensions and their constituent attributes. Also, the maturity model incorporates the assessment of the maturity in the dimension of inbound and outbound integration. While these two dimensions are crucial in the Industry 4.0 ecosystem, to the best of our knowledge, these are not considered by any of the assessment models published so far.

Architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) is an important industry worldwide and one of the largest economic sectors in several developing countries, particularly in Iran. The Iranian AEC sector suffers from low productivity and needs to adopt building information modeling (BIM) to reduce inefficiencies. Therefore, this paper was conducted to identify the BIM barriers and propose practical solutions to overcome them in Iran.

A comprehensive literature review, two rounds of the Delphi technique and semi-structured interviews with 12 Iranian experts in the AEC sector were conducted. The data were analyzed using the mean score, standard deviation and nonparametric tests.

The present study identified 26 BIM barriers in the Iranian AEC community and provided practical strategies for improving BIM adoption. The identified barriers were categorized into six main groups including source barriers, financial barriers, unawareness barriers, organizational barriers, regulatory barriers and market-demand barriers. The main three BIM barriers in Iran were the lack of government intervention, change-resistant and the gap between industry and academia. Kruskal–Wallis tests revealed that there are no statistically significant differences in perceptions of BIM barriers between respondents. The Mann–Whitney test indicated that there is no statistically significant difference in perceptions between engineers and architects except for one.

There are few studies on BIM adoption across developing countries, particularly in Iran. Moreover, the results can also be used in other developing nations with similar conditions.